


Windows to the Soul

by solidburnreturned



Category: Trolls (2016), Trolls World Tour (2020)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/F, Hero/Villain, Light Angst, Prompt Fic, quick fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22198987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solidburnreturned/pseuds/solidburnreturned
Summary: Poppy is not as easy to break as Barb thinks...and she's about to experience a turn of tables.
Relationships: Poppy/Barb (Trolls)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 100





	Windows to the Soul

**Author's Note:**

> fic prompt from tumblr! "I can't stop thinking about you."

Things were not going according to plan. Well, they were, but...they also were not. 

Sure, Barb defeated the five other troll kingdoms, snatched up their strings, and had the queen of Pop locked up safe and sound in her makeshift jail cell. The entire troll population was on their knees before her, because of her. Still, though...it was that pink troll that was messing things up in the weirdest way possible.

Barb sat on her jagged throne of obsidian, one leg lazily kicking the air, her head resting on her hand as it was propped up on the arm of her seat. Her pointed brow was lowered as she sat deep in thought. The room was empty, dank, and dark; just the way she liked it. Still, her nervous energy was obvious and getting pretty annoying. She couldn’t pull her thoughts away from her prisoner down below her. Honestly, Barb wasn’t expecting Poppy to be so full of spark and mischief...was more expecting something along the lines of frail and useless. A softie. She just knew, deep in her gut, that that pain-in-the-neck queen was going to try and pull something. Soon, too. 

Just sitting there and thinking about it was agony. With a growlish huff, Barb jumped down from her throne, guitar slung over her back, and began her descent down the dusty black steps to the dungeon. The two guards standing at the door ceased their game of punchies and stood tall as their queen stormed towards them, wordlessly commanding them to let her through. Barb quickly dawned a smug grin as the heavy door swung open, eyes focused in on the still-determined-looking Poppy gripping the bars of her cage. 

“How’s it going, cake pop?” Barb said with a sneer, kicking the door closed behind her. “Still no little friends to come rescue you?”

“They’re coming!” Poppy barked, knuckles pale from her grip on the rough metal bars. “I know it!” Her expression unexpectedly became warmer. “...and then maybe you’ll see that friendship is more powerful than any g-”

Barb let out a laugh from her gut, striding over to lean against the side of the cell. “Oh, man, you crack me up.” Poppy jumped back as Barb suddenly swung her body forward, grabbing the bars and becoming much more serious in tone and expression. “Please, keep going.”

Poppy found herself losing her voice for a moment or two, a bit frozen by the entrapping gaze of Barb’s practically glowing pink eyes. The room was dark. It seemed to only accentuate both the size and aura the rock queen’s eyes had.

“Well? Not giving up, are you?”

Poppy swallowed thickly before regaining her composure, stepping forward to only be inches away from the taller queen. Her fists balled. Her jaw was set. Her ears folded back. Her gaze met Barb’s and burned with unfaltering confidence.

“Your eyes-”

“ _Yeah?”_ Barb snapped immediately, reaching a hand through the bars to grab Poppy by the front of her dress and jerk her forward. Poppy did not flinch. “My eyes? What about them??” They were big, she knew. Just about every other troll she’d met let her know; they were huge, freaky, evil, scary...what else? She curled her lip back in a snarl, daring Poppy to continue her sentence. 

With a sweet smile, Poppy rested a hand on Barb’s shaking arm. “...they’re beautiful.”

For a moment, Barb seemed to suffer a complete system failure. Her ragged breathing ceased, teeth unclenched, and eyes widened. Beautiful? _Beautiful?_ A trick. This was a trick. Barb could see it written all over that warm, smiling, gentle face. Feel it in the soft pink fingers stroking her wrist. She wouldn’t be so easily fooled. With a growl, the blue fabric of Poppy’s dress was released, but Barb’s feet stayed planted in place.

“What’re you trying to pull, princess?” She finally said in a voice so low Poppy barely caught it.

A quick noise of “that’s-what-I-thought” as Poppy fixed her dress. “Well, I think a nice _queen-to-queen_ compliment can be nice sometimes. You can give me one too, if you want.”

Barb could’ve sworn she felt her eye twitch. Though her expression was slacked and blank, her mind was moving a million miles a minute, trying to figure out _what_ kind of stunt Poppy was trying to pull. Give her a compliment? Was this a code or something? A surrender? The curiosity gnawing at her mind was getting unbearable...reward outweighed risk in that moment. Poppy watched Barb carefully, seemingly unfazed by her prolonged silence and unsettlingly close proximity. Her heart was thudding in her chest, but not with anxiety; rather, with excitement at the fact that she could’ve sworn she saw something glinting in Barb’s eyes. Fear? Befuddlement? Vulnerability?

“I-I...” Barb roughly cleared her throat. “...I can’t stop thinking about you.”

It was growled through tightly clenched teeth, but Poppy understood clearly. Though it was a rather awkward compliment, she still gave Barb a genuine nod of approval. Progress. “See? That wasn’t so-”

Poppy was cut off when Barb practically bolted out of the room, wrenching the door open with so much force that it nearly cracked the stone wall it slammed against. 

“I want two more guards watching her!” Barb spat as she ascended the stairs, not bothering to look back at the startled, saluting watchmen below her. Bypassing her throne, Barb went straight for her personal quarters, flinging the door open and shut as she stormed in. She stood still for a moment, the echo of her chaos fading slowly and leaving her alone with the sound of her panicked breathing. How could she be so stupid. Fall for such an easy trick...Barb let out a roar as she grabbed one of her old guitars and launched it across the room, watching it smash into pieces against the volcano rock wall. It was obvious to her now that Poppy was a master of mind games. How the pink pop troll so easily worked her way into Barb’s brain to get her admit some sort of...weakness...Barb was disgusted with herself. She could conquer five troll kingdoms and rule with an iron fist, but couldn’t resist one sparky queen. God. What was _wrong_ with her. What was making her soft? She fought hard to her spot at the top, and now it was being threatened by one little pretty pink nuisance. Pathetic. If she had any hair on the sides of her head, she’d be tearing it out. 

Barb flopped onto her bed with a groan, face buried in her pillow. She had to come up with a plan to get Poppy under control...and out of her mind. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is something I've wanted to write for a while lol...glad I finally had an excuse to do it! hopefully I characterized Barb well enough, I guess we'll find out in april!
> 
> kudos/comments appreciated :)


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